HydroWorld.com reported in June that TLSB had selected China Harbour Engineering (CHEC) as the preferred bidder for the Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon project, offering a US$458 million contract for the construction of the project's bund wall and coffer dam, sourcing and transporting rock, and managing all landslide and marine crews.

Sources said CHEC was unable to demonstrate that its plans offered value for TLSB's money, leading the Welsh development group to announce the retendering process.

TLSB did not specify when the new tendering would end, but that it does not expect the move from CHEC to delay the project's timeline.

The project was accepted for consideration by the United Kingdom's Planning inspectorate last March, qualifying it as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) under the UK's Planning Act of 2008.

TLSB said it will run additional tenders through the summer for the construction of a turbine assembly plant in Wales, and the lagoon's public realm and buildings work.